Spotswood MP killed by blast in Baghdad

A 20-year-old Army reservist from Spotswood who had been deployed to Iraq less than two months ago was killed Thursday in Baghdad, the Defense Department said.

Army Reserve Spec. Michael Gonzalez

Patti Sapone/The Star-LedgerCarol Wanas, customer manager of ShopRite in East Brunswick, hugs Ron Abline during a memorial Friday in honor of Army Reserve Spec. Michael L. Gonzalez. Gonzalez had worked at the ShopRite prior to his deployment.

U.S. Army Specialist Michael Gonzalez, a member of the military police, died from wounds caused by an improvised explosive device.

Spotswood Police Chief Karl Martin said Gonzalez dreamed of being a police officer. Martin said he knew the young man from when Gonzalez attended the junior police academy while in high school. Gonzalez had hoped to be appointed to the force after his tour of duty, Martin said.

The soldier's parents remembered him as a "wonderful son and a great soldier who died fighting for what he believed in.

"Michael served his country as a soldier to make a difference in the world. He will be forever missed by his family and his many friends," the family said in a statement issued by the Defense Department.

On Friday, cars lined the street outside the Gonzalez family's home, where an American flag waved from a pole attached to the front of the house. Neighbors, who called on Gonzalez's parents, Pedro and Ida, to express their condolences, said the soldier was a friendly person.

Gonazalez joined the Army shortly after graduating from Spotswood High School in June 2006 and completed his basic and advance training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. In December 2006, he graduated from Military Police School and was attending Middlesex County College in Edison.

His family said he joined the 340th Military Police Company shortly before deploying from Fort Dix to Iraq earlier this summer. Officials said the soldier's home unit is the 430th Military Police Detachment, based in Red Bank.

Gonzalez is at least the 102nd member of the armed services with ties to New Jersey to die in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In addition to his parents, Gonzalez is survived by a brother, Troy Gonzalez; his grandparents, Maria and Alberto Gonzalez; and his girlfriend, Tiffany Loving. Funeral arrangements are not yet complete.

On Friday afternoon, about 30 people gathered outside the East Brunswick ShopRite, where Gonzalez had worked as a checker for the past two years. They laid wreaths at the base of the flagpole in his honor during an impromptu memorial service.

"If you were around him, you were smiling," said Carol Wanas, a customer service manager at the store.

Co-workers shared their memories and supported each other during the brief yet moving ceremony. "He will always have a place in my heart. He will always be my hero," said Vanessa Costeira, 19, of South River.

Another co-worker, 22-year-old Daniele Reitsma, said she corresponded with Gonzalez when he was in boot camp. "He would write, 'I changed a lot from who I used to be. I'm grown up now.'" Reitsma said.

Spotswood High School Principal Thomas Calder said Gonzalez's death will be felt throughout the Middlesex County borough because it is such a small, close knit community. "This is the first time in the eight years I've been here that something like this happened," he said.

"We're a small school. You get to know each and every kid," Calder said. Gonzalez, he said, was "a quality young man who really had a direction in life."

Patti Sapone/The Star-LedgerEmployees from the ShopRite store in East Brunswick held a memorial Friday for Army Reserve Spec. Michael L. Gonzalez, who was killed in Iraq on Thursday. Gonzalez, of Spotswood, worked at the story prior to his deployment.